"You are a madwoman, building under the darklands. Doesn't the base itself go pitch black at night?" I asked.

"Not if you are deep enough. The night time darkness effects only go so deep," Clarissa answered as we approached a large angled opening in the ground. The airship in front of us entered and we followed behind them.

"It isn't hidden," I pointed out.

"This is obscure corner and we have observation posts. Normally airships would leave and arrive from other directions to throw off any pursuit or observation, but we can't hesitate right now," she replied. I noted the wooden walls of the passage. After a bit we came to a large cavern with another airship parked. Clarissa pointed at an open space I should land in.

"You have gotten better at building underground bunkers," I said casually.

"I have learned a trick or two since we fought the Divine Empress. We are deep enough to avoid any observation. At least we should be. You spot anyone?" she asked.

"Only after we had descended a bit," I replied, and Clarissa nodded.

"Airships are a massive pain to deal with. Just in terms of size, cost, and places to put them. But the speed they have is to useful to give up. The Crystal Vortex will be secured here and not touched until your return," she replied as we got off.

"You have these bases scattered everywhere, don't you," I said since Clarissa had indicated she was abandoning this place after our team up.

"Yes. Well maybe not this large. This is Research Outpost 842." When I heard that name I chuckled a bit. There weren't 841 other research bases. It was a random number designed to be confusing, but could also be used as part of a code. While I might not have kept up with everything, I had stayed on top of communication protocols.

"And you are just going to abandon it?" I asked.

"It isn't going to be destroyed, but it will be trapped and there might be a small observation kept here to support grinding efforts and catch any spies that come this way."

"There are spies?" I joked but it was also a legitimate question.

"Not right now, but in time the other nations will be looking to keep tabs on me, and you," she answered. I kept following her as we made our way across the large chamber. Her guards right behind us.

We reached a wooden doorway and began to descend. "Thinking about building in higher energy areas?" I asked.

"Yes. But there are health considerations to take into account. Also building a base like this is time consuming, even if the process has been streamlined. Then there are supplies to take into consideration. I can only keep so many of these bases operational outside of cities without them being detected."

"But you can build them and move around easily enough. In a thousand years, will there be vast catacombs that you have constructed?" I joked.

"Possibly. Mole Woman Clarissa, while not flattering could be my new title," she replied, owning up to her tendencies to bunker down. We went through a hallway and a couple more doorways and arrived at another chamber.

"Wow, that is big," I looked at the astrolabe that was the size of a cart.

"Not big enough, but as big as we could get it. Each attempt to make a portal uses up a lot of critical supplies that aren't easy to replace. That means the 25 attempts we have available are it. Once we use them up to either leave or return, we aren't getting more."

"Air masks?" I asked and I was led to a table, where there were full helmets, that were like diver's helmets.

"Really?" I looked at Clarissa.

"Do you know how hard it is to create a breathable atmosphere with the enchantments we have available. Not easy. The back has the fiddly components, and the face plate is clear. It can get hot."

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"And the rest of a person's body?" I asked.

"There is an atmosphere, or at least no one suffered vacuum exposure. The main issue is being able to breathe. Each helmet will go for 72 hours. After that the enchantments will break down." Now I was really curious how they worked. "There are a lot of small components to help with gas exchange. And crystals to empower it all."

"And can't we switch out crystals?" I asked.

"Not easily. You would have to remain still while I work on it. Would take about two minutes."

"That long?" I asked in surprise.

"They are built to sustain high level movement. Functionality was a secondary concern. The same with sliming them down. I gave you what I had to start with. But you wanted to grind."

"No complaints, but I have to fight in this. We have spares?" I asked.

"We will have one spare. Don't get hit in the head, neck, or shoulders. Once you have a meal and rest up, we will leave in eight hours," Clarissa replied.

"Or attempt to at least," I said. "Who has command?" I asked.

"Leaving and returning are on me. I doubt you want to hear the procedures we have made or train on specific energy related techniques. Once there, you have command."

"Surprised you aren't bringing along someone who can handle all of that," I replied.

"Conner and Gregor here are trained as well," she gestured at her bodyguards who hadn't spoken a single word yet. "There are others, but I know you. You wouldn't go through with this plan unless things became a lot more desperate. That is why I am coming along," Clarissa said and I nodded at this.

I wouldn't dare risk being trapped on in rainbow land, if Clarissa wasn't coming with me. Even if there was trust, killing me like that would be a lot of temptation for any single person. I could trust that she had her own well being as a priority, so we should have a way back. She wouldn't want to go on a suicide mission.

"What about hostile energy?" I asked.

"Energy absorbers burn out quickly. All of us should be fine with our stats. It is a risk we have to take," she replied.

"Other equipment?" I asked.

"Bunker shields. Layered null enchantments." The shields were massive tower shields. "Lots of regular annihilation bombs, level 6 crafting crystals. And two directional super bombs, level 7 crafting crystals."

"Like how big are we talking?" I asked. While looking at the bombs on the table. The super bombs were the size of backpack each, while the smaller ones were basically pipe bombs I had experience with. Twist the end and throw.

"It would kill you if you don't dodge. They take about thirty seconds to set up and fire. And while most of the blast is directed one way, the area around them won't be safe either. They are miniature cannons."

"And the portable store?" I asked. She pulled off a cylinder she had on her belt and handed it to me. I took it and looked through the options.

"No building purchases, just stuff. How useful is this?" I asked and handed it back to her. It was useful for staying away from cities and buying basic items, but beyond that, its utility was limited.

"If necessary we can build a shelter long term and have food and water if we are stranded. I am not letting it out of my sight," Clarissa said.

"That is smart. Something like that is too valuable to be left laying around. Those helmets, they are going to make things very difficult," I said while looking at them for a second time.

"I know, but there is no other option. Better to act now, than wait until things get worse. We can't afford another calamity. The first one broke the United City States, the second one broke the Empire of Purgatory. A third one might break all of the Systemic Lands," she replied.

That was true. The one thing about Systemic Land ending threats, was that we lived here as well. And by surviving and killing everyone else who might have been strong enough, I had to respond. There was no other option, even if I didn't want to.

"I will need a bandolier of bombs," I said.

"Let's sort that out now." A bandolier I could wear over my chest appeared. It was a bit oversized, so Clarissa purchased a second. After I had put it on, I took it off.

"We will get it enchanted in a nearby city and a set of clothes. You want armor?" she asked me.

"No. Comfortable clothes only. Armor isn't going to do me much good," I replied. She handed off the bandolier to one of the guards along with instructions. He left and I got shown to a room to rest in. A meal was brought to me which I enjoyed by myself.

Clarissa had gone all out, since it was tacos. While it might not seem complex, getting the bread, meat, and everything else just right was no easy task. It was way better than stew. After eating, I lay down to sleep, but even with my eyes closed, I struggled to drift off to dreamland.

The next couple of days would be incredibly rough. I had to win and then we had to make it back. Both incredibly difficult tasks that loomed in front of me. Why couldn't I be left to grind up a couple million more stat points before I had to deal with this? I was retired from being in charge, but unfortunately I wasn't retired from being the only option for Clarissa to turn towards.

The sphere acted in an omnidirectional manner, had strong control over the terrain, and was very good at shielding itself. Mobility was a weakness. I would also need to wreck whatever chamber it was in. I didn't want to fight with reflective surfaces, that could bounce attacks. That would be too annoying to pay attention to.

Throw the bombs everywhere, and then unleash a 60,000 energy annihilation attack. Follow up with physical attacks on the shield while also releasing attacks through the shield the sphere used. That worked last time, no need to change things up until I saw its counter. Wearing the helmet would be incredibly annoying, but there was no choice.

Breathing was still a requirement for me to live and one of the few ways to bypass all my stats.

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